Successful people seem to have it all — flourishing careers and thriving friendships, all while staying fit and maintaining a loving home and family life. Ever wondered what it is that they do differently and everyday on a consistent basis? What are these common habits of highly successful people that set them apart?
Like most things in life, daily habits require stringent discipline and unwavering commitment towards personal transformation. It may seem like successful people are just luckier than everybody else, however, what goes on behind the scenes is often overlooked. While good fortune can give you a boost, success requires focus and dedication towards achieving long-term goals.
Here are some of the daily habits that a lot of successful people have in common:
Plan Your Day The Night Before
Planning in advance saves you a lot of time and last minute headaches.
Sit down with a piece of paper and write down everything that you need to do the coming day. If for any reason you don’t do this, it should be the first thing you do every morning. When you make a list, you have a track to run on.
Set Priorities On Your To-Do List Before You Start The Day
Work with the 80/20 rule. For instance, if you have ten items on your list of things to do, two will be more important than all the other items put together. Get those two tasks done on a priority basis to get a head start on your day. This way you’ll also get a feeling of already having accomplished your most important goals or tasks early on which is a great way of staying motivated throughout the day.
Sleep well
Among the daily habits of successful people, this is one of the most important ones. Sleep is the healthiest thing we can do for ourselves. Without enough sleep, not only will you feel the burnout, but you’ll continue to work slower and slower. Imagine the impact this will have on your ability to be productive. Sleep helps us reset like nothing else. Most adults require a healthy dose of 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
Wake up early
Starting your day early allows you to devote more of it to your performance goals and have more time for a successful routine. Make it a habit to wake up early every single day, without fail, and without a pause.
Meditate
Henepola Gunaratana, the author of ‘Mindfulness in Plain English’ said that, “The purpose of meditation is personal transformation.”
Meditation can help you to train your attention, increase awareness and calm your mind by drawing your focus away from thoughts that cloud your judgement. Just 10 to 15 minutes each morning can have a huge impact on your day.
A lot of CEOs and world leaders have attributed their success to their habit of practicing meditation daily. It has significantly changed their lives and increased their productivity by giving them a better outlook on things. That’s why top companies like Google, Nike, HBO and Salesforce have meditation spaces in their workplaces. Google also provides free meditation courses for all its employees.
Have a morning workout routine
An active mind also requires your body to be active. You are at your best when these two conflate. The morning is the best time to wake up your muscles, either through some stretching, cardio or a combination of both.
Unplug
Protecting your limited time and mental energy. Establish a habit of switching off when you want to focus on deep work or take a mental break to recuperate.
Instead of always reacting to distractions, take control of where you place your attention. Digital detox is a good way to unwind and rejuvenate. It helps when you don’t use any digital devices 30 minutes before sleep and 30 minutes after waking.
This will promote restful sleep and help you avoid distractions when you wake up.
Commit to personal growth
Successful people take personal transformation seriously and focus on making positive adjustments consistently throughout their lives. Dynamism and not getting complacent is key to developing some habits of highly successful people.
Personal growth is achieved differently by everyone. Some may choose to listen to motivational podcasts from various industry leaders or read 50 books a year like Bill Gates does. You could also take a page out of Warren Buffet’s book and read the newspaper daily. In fact, he reads six newspapers a day to keep himself up to date.
Practice gratitude
According to a Harvard Medical School study on positive psychology, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. And it’s no secret that happy people are more successful.
You can write your graces in a journal, say them aloud, pray, meditate, or choose your own path. There are many ways to do this, and none of them are wrong.
